A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or puisne court, elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the same meaning. Depending on the jurisdiction, such justices dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions. Justices of the peace are appointed or elected from the citizens of the jurisdiction in which they serve, and are usually not required to have any formal legal education in order to qualify for the office. Some jurisdictions have varying forms of training for JPs.
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judicial and executive powers. In other parts of the world, such as China, a magistrate was responsible for administration over a particular geographic area. Today, in some jurisdictions, a magistrate is a judicial officer who hears cases in a lower court, and typically deals with more minor or preliminary matters. In other jurisdictions, magistrates may be volunteers without formal legal training who perform a judicial role with regard to minor matters.
The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh and is both a trial court and a court of appeal. Decisions of the court can be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, with the permission of either the Inner House or the Supreme Court. The Court of Session and the local sheriff courts of Scotland have concurrent jurisdiction for all cases with a monetary value in excess of £100,000; the pursuer is given first choice of court. However, the majority of complex, important, or high value cases are brought in the Court of Session. Cases can be remitted to the Court of Session from the sheriff courts, including the Sheriff Personal Injury Court, at the request of the presiding sheriff. Legal aid, administered by the Scottish Legal Aid Board, is available to persons with little disposable income for cases in the Court of Session.
The Judiciary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the judicial branch of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Under the Basic Law of Hong Kong, it exercises the judicial power of the Region and is independent of the executive and legislative branches of the Government. The courts in Hong Kong hear and adjudicate all prosecutions and civil disputes, including all public and private law matters.
A Sessions Court or even known as the Court of Sessions Judge is a court of law which exists in several Commonwealth countries. A Court of Session is the highest criminal court in a district and the court of first instance for trying serious offences i.e. those carrying punishment of imprisonment of more than seven years, life imprisonment, or death.
The District Courts of India are the district courts of the State governments in India for every district or for one or more districts together taking into account of the number of cases, population distribution in the district. They administer justice in India at a district level.
The judiciary of Pakistan is a hierarchical system with two classes of courts: the superior judiciary and the subordinate judiciary. The superior judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Federal Shariat Court and five High Courts, with the Supreme Court at the apex. There is a High Court for each of the four provinces as well as a High Court for the Islamabad Capital Territory. The Constitution of Pakistan entrusts the superior judiciary with the obligation to preserve, protect and defend the constitution. Neither the Supreme Court nor a High Court may exercise jurisdiction in relation to Tribal Areas, except otherwise provided for. The disputed regions of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan have separate court systems.
The Judiciary is a system of courts which interpret and apply the law. The role of the courts is to decide cases by determining the relevant facts and the relevant law, and applying the relevant facts to the relevant law. The Indian Judiciary administers a common law system in which customs, securities and legislation, all codify the law of the land. It has, in fact, inherited the legacy of the legal system established by the then colonial powers and the princely states since the mid-19th century, and has partly retained the characteristics of practices from the ancient and medieval times.
Bangladesh is a common law country having its legal system developed by the British rulers during their colonial rule over British India. The land now comprises Bangladesh was known as Bengal during the British and Mughal regime while by some other names earlier.Though we had religious and political equipments and institutions from almost pre historic era, Mughals first tried to recognise and establish them through state mechanisms. The Charter of 1726, granted by King George 1, authorised the East India Company to establish Mayor's Courts in Madras, Bombay and Calcutta and is recognised as the first codified law for the British India. As a part of the then British India, it was the first codified law for the then Bengal too. Since independence in 1971, statutory law enacted by the Parliament of Bangladesh has been the primary form of legislation. Judge made law continues to be significant in areas such as constitutional law. Unlike in other common law countries, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has the power to not only interpret laws made by the parliament, but to also declare them null and void and to enforce fundamental rights of the citizens. The Bangladesh Code includes a compilation of all laws since 1836. The vast majority of Bangladeshi laws are in English. But most laws adopted after 1987 are in Bengali. Family law is intertwined with religious law. Bangladesh has significant international law obligations.
The judiciary of Malta interprets and applies the laws of Malta, to ensure equal justice under law, and to provide a mechanism for dispute resolution. The legal system of is based partially on English law and partly on Continental law, whilst also being subject to European Union law.
The chief justice of Bangladesh is the chief amongst the judges of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, and also head of the whole judicial establishments, including subordinate courts. The chief justice is appointed by the president of Bangladesh. The chief justice sits in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court with other judges to hear and decide cases, presides over meetings of the full Supreme Court to transact business relating to administration of the court, and supervises the discipline of the judges and magistrates of the subordinate courts. Most rules for regulating the practice and procedure of both the Appellate and High Court Divisions of the Supreme Court including those specified in certain legislative acts, such as the Companies Act 1994 and the Banking Companies Act 1991, are also duly scrutinized and approved in full court meetings presided over by the chief justice. He also distributes judicial business of the High Court Division by constituting different benches to exercise its original, appellate and revisable jurisdictions.
The Executive Magistrate is the magistrate of the executive organ of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. The members of the Bangladesh Civil Service (Administration) i.e. Bangladesh Administrative Service are the Executive Magistrates. They usually exercise vast executive and limited judicial power in their respective jurisdiction.
The Judiciary of Bangladesh or Judicial system of Bangladesh is based on the Constitution and the laws are enacted by the legislature and interpreted by the higher courts. Bangladesh Supreme Court is the highest court of Bangladesh. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has been described in Article 94(1) of the Constitution of Bangladesh. It consists of two divisions, the High Court Division and the Appellate Division. These two divisions of the Supreme Court have separate jurisdictions.
The Bangladesh Supreme Court, Appellate Division is the appellate court in Bangladesh. The Appellate Division is the first level appellate court, with appellate review authority over final judgments of the High Court Division.
Since the independence of Bangladesh, the presidential election process has been changed several times due to both the Presidential and Parliamentary arrangements. According to the Second Schedule to the Constitution of 1972, the president of the parliament used to be elected by a secret vote. Later, according to the fourth amendment to the constitution, the provision of the direct election system of presidential election was introduced. But soon after 12th Amendment to the Constitution, the provision of presidential elections through an indirect election was introduced after the parliamentary system was installed. At present, President is elected by an indirect election by the members of parliament as per Article 48 of the Constitution.
Metropolitan Session court is a type of Sessions Court which are situated in metropolitan cities of Bangladesh. These types courts are exclusively criminal court to deal with only criminal cases. Judges appointed to such courts do not hear or try any civil matter, unlike judges of session courts in districts. According to the Code of Criminal Procedure (Bangladesh), a Session Judge shall be established by the Government in each of metropolitan city. Initially, two types of courts, the Courts of Sessions and the Courts of Magistrates were recognized by the code. The code was amended in 1976 with the introduction of the metropolitan police and came to effect in 1979. This amended ordinance made it essential for the government to establish the separate metropolitan session courts for metropolitan areas. Currently, there five Metropolitan courts are in function in Bangladesh.
Deputy Commissioner or District Magistrate is the chief administrative and revenue officer of a district or an administrative sub-unit of a division. According to the Code of Criminal Procedure of Bangladesh, the Government shall appoint as many persons as it thinks fit to be Executive Magistrates and shall appoint one of them to be the District Magistrate.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court is a type of Metropolitan Magistrate Court which is found in the metropolitan cities of Bangladesh. These courts are presided by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate as per the Code of Criminal Procedure of Bangladesh. These courts are under the control to the Metropolitan Session Judge Courts. The amended form of the Criminal Procedure Code gives the government the power to appoint a Chief Metropolitan Magistrate and other magistrates in a metropolitan area. The provision of recruitment of one or more Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrates is also directed.
Metropolitan Magistrate Court is special type of magistrate court which is only found in metropolitan areas of Bangladesh. The 1976 instruct the government of Bangladesh to establish separate type of courts only for the metropolitan area. Metropolitan Magistrate Court is the second tier of court which is presided by Judicial Magistrates. These courts are subordinate to and under the control of Metropolitan Session Courts.
Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court is a type of sessions court that is only found in metropolitan cities of Bangladesh. Metropolitan Sessions courts only deal with the criminal cases of metropolitan areas. These courts are presided by the sessions judges. Sessions Judges are appointed by the government according to the 2009 amendment of Code of Criminal Procedure of Bangladesh.
